Kevin O’Connell likes Sam Darnold, but says it ‘didn’t work out in the end’

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said after Monday night’s loss to the Rams that quarterback Sam Darnold holds “a special place in my heart” because of the way he has played this season. But he acknowledged that Darnold wasn’t good enough in the final games of the season.

“I just want to say that it’s very important that we all think about Sam’s work, what he was able to do this year, when few people thought he would be able to lead a team to 14 victories,” O’Connell said. “It ultimately didn’t work out, and I think Sam would be the first to tell you, could he have played better tonight? I’m sure he would tell you he could have. Could I have coached better? I’m sure I could have.

For most of the season, Darnold was excellent, playing by far the best football of his career. But the last two games ended in a 31-9 loss to the Lions in the regular season finale and a 27-9 loss Monday night to the Rams in the wild card round of the playoffs. In those games, Darnold repeatedly wilted under pressure. O’Connell said it wasn’t all on Darnold, but the offense was nowhere near good enough in the season’s two biggest games.

“Far too many negative points. Really, in the last couple of weeks, there were too many negative plays that put you behind,” O’Connell said.

O’Connell said he was proud of the Vikings’ season, even though they ultimately came up short.

“It’s a very tough feeling in this locker room right now,” O’Connell said. “This team did a lot of special things this year, but we didn’t play well enough to win this football game.”

Now the Vikings have a big offseason ahead of them – one in which Darnold will be a free agent, first-round quarterback JJ McCarthy will be healthy and the team will have a big decision to make at quarterback.